Mycetarotes

Mycetarotes
Mycetarotes parallelus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Mycetarotes Emery, 1913
Type species
Cyphomyrmex parallelus, now Mycetarotes parallelus
Diversity
4 species (Species Checklist, Species by Country) Specimen Label

Evolutionary Relationships

Attini Ochetomyrmex (2 species), Tranopelta (2 species) Allomerus (8 species), Blepharidatta (4 species), Diaphoromyrma (1 species), Lachnomyrmex (16 species), Wasmannia (11 species) Acanthognathus (7 species), Colobostruma (16 species), Daceton (2 species), Epopostruma (20 species), Lenomyrmex (7 species), Mesostruma (9 species), Microdaceton (4 species), Orectognathus (29 species) Paleoattina Apterostigma   (44 species) Myrmicocrypta   (31 species) Mycocepurus   (6 species) Neoattina Cyatta   (1 species) Kalathomyrmex   (1 species) Mycetarotes   (4 species) Mycetosoritis   (2 species) Cyphomyrmex   (23 species) Mycetophylax   (21 species) Mycetagroicus   (4 species) Acromyrmex (55 species), Atta (20 species), Sericomyrmex (11 species), Trachymyrmex (9 species), Xerolitor (1 species) Basiceros (8 species), Cephalotes (123 species), Eurhopalothrix (54 species), Octostruma (34 species), Phalacromyrmex (1 species), Pheidole (1,293 species), Pilotrochus (1 species), Procryptocerus (44 species), Protalaridris (7 species), Rhopalothrix (16 species), Strumigenys (859 species), Talaridris (1 species)

Based on Ward et al. (2014), Blaimer et al. (2018) and Li et al. (2018).

A genus of fungus growing ants. Sanchez et al (2015) - Of the four species in the genus, Mycetarotes parallelus is the most widespread and common of all species of the genus (Mayhé-Nunes & Jaffé, 1998), in contrast to the other species of the genus which are uncommon and whose distributions are restricted to specific conditions (Mayhé-Nunes, 1995; Mayhé-Nunes & Lanziotti, 2004). Unlike other Mycetarotes species M. parallelus commonly lives in open habitats, gallery forest, secondary forest, and disturbed habitats (Solomon et al., 2004).

At a Glance

• Fungus Grower

 

Photo Gallery

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  Mycetarotes male. His relatively long antennae and large eyes help locate queens during mating flights outside the nest. Winged males and queens serve as a reminder of the wasp ancestry of ants. Parque Nacional Iguazu, Argentina; Laboratory colony at the University of Texas. Photo by Alex Wild.

Identification

Sanchez et al (2015) - The ant genus Mycetarotes is represented by four species, all neotropical: Mycetarotes acutus, Mycetarotes carinatus, Mycetarotes parallelus and Mycetarotes senticosus. The workers are monomorphic and can be distinguished from other members of fungus-growing ants by the presence of tridentate occipital corners (in frontal view the occipital spines project between the outer spines of the occipital margin and supraocular spines), subparallel frontal carinae that terminate near the occipital margin, lateral margins of frontal lobes little expanded laterally and bluntly angular or rounded, and the absences of clearly delimited antennal scrobes. Their mandibles are finely and longitudinally striolate, with 5-6 teeth on the masticatory margin (Kempf, 1960; Mayhé-Nunes & Brandão, 2006).

See images of species within this genus

 

Biology

Life History Traits

• Mean colony size: 20-100 (Greer et al., 2021)
• Compound colony type: not parasitic (Greer et al., 2021)
• Nest site: hypogaeic (Greer et al., 2021)
• Diet class: herbivore (Greer et al., 2021)
• Foraging stratum: subterranean/leaf litter (Greer et al., 2021)

Morphology

Worker Morphology

 • Eyes: 11-100 ommatidia • Pronotal Spines: dentiform • Mesonotal Spines: dentiform • Propodeal Spines: dentiform • Petiolar Spines: dentiform • Caste: none or weak • Sting: present • Metaplural Gland: present • Cocoon: absent

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• MYCETAROTES [Myrmicinae: Attini]
  • Mycetarotes Emery, 1913b: 251 [as subgenus of Cyphomyrmex]. Type-species: Cyphomyrmex parallelus, by original designation.
  • Mycetarotes raised to genus: Borgmeier, 1950b: 384.

References

• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 199, Mycetarotes in Myrmicinae, Attini)
• Borgmeier, T. 1950b. Bemerkungen zu Dr. Creighton's Werk "The ants of North America". Rev. Entomol. (Rio J.) 21: 381-386 (page 384, Mycetarotes as genus)
• Cantone S. 2018. Winged Ants, The queen. Dichotomous key to genera of winged female ants in the World. The Wings of Ants: morphological and systematic relationships (self-published).
• Emery, C. 1913c. Études sur les Myrmicinae. [V-VII.]. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 57: 250-262 (page 251, Mycetarotes as subgenus of Cyphomyrmex; Mycetarotes in Myrmicinae, Attini)
• Emery, C. 1924f [1922]. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [concl.]. Genera Insectorum 174C: 207-397 (page 342, Mycetarotes in Myrmicinae, Attini; Mycetarotes as subgenus of Cyphomyrmex)
• Fernandez, F., Guerrero, R.J., Sánchez-Restrepo, A.F. 2021. Sistemática y diversidad de las hormigas neotropicales. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 47, 1–20 (doi:10.25100/socolen.v47i1.11082).
• Forel, A. 1917. Cadre synoptique actuel de la faune universelle des fourmis. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 51: 229-253 (page 247, Mycetarotes as subgenus of Cyphomyrmex)
• Hanisch, P.E., Sosa-Calvo, J., Schultz, T.R. 2022. The last piece of the puzzle? Phylogenetic position and natural history of the monotypic fungus-farming ant genus Paramycetophylax (Formicidae: Attini). Insect Systematics and Diversity 6 (1): 11:1-17 (doi:10.1093/isd/ixab029).
• Kempf, W. W. 1960d. A review of the ant genus Mycetarotes Emery (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Rev. Bras. Biol. 20: 277-283 (page 277, Review of genus)
• Mayhé-Nunes, A. J. 1995. Sinopse do gênero Mycetarotes (Hym., Formicidae), com a descriça~o de duas especies novas. Bol. Entomol. Venez. (n.s.) 10(2): 197-205 (page 197, review of genus)
• Sanchez, A. F., C. A. Medina, and G. W. Prescott. 2015. First Record of the Genus Mycetarotes (Emery, 1913) (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) from Colombia. Sociobiology. 62:331-333. doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v62i2.331-333
• Solomon, S.E., Mueller, U.G., Schultz, T.R., Currie, C.R., Price, S.L., Oliveira da Silva-Pinhati, A.C., Bacci, Jr M., Vasconcelos, H.L. 2004. Nesting biology of the fungus growing ants Mycetarotes Emery (Attini, Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 51: 333-338.